


Castles, snow and ornaments

by bunnysworld



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Drama, Falling In Love, Friendship, Love, M/M, Romance, Sexy Times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-02-10 01:09:28
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12900744
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunnysworld/pseuds/bunnysworld
Summary: The friends go on a trip for the holidays. Arthur is in charge of organizing and outdid himself. Merlin loves the whole thing. And he can't help falling more and more in love with his friend.





	Castles, snow and ornaments

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rotrude](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rotrude/gifts).



> Rotrude! I have to admit I was a bit intimidated when I saw your name on my assignment. Your prompts were right down my alley, though and immediately I started writing. Which is a bit weird when the end of September brings back summer with temperatures that were higher than on most summer days. Listening to Michael Bublé croon ‘White Christmas’ to support the mood is strange when people walk about in t-shirts, shorts and aren’t wearing socks. Now, that I finish editing the story, it’s actually snowing outside. I hope the story is tinsel-y enough and helps putting you in a Christmassy mood. Happy Holidays, dear!
> 
> Thanks to the mods for once again putting this wonderful fest together and for letting me play, even though I messed up last year. Special thanks to my wonderful beta, whom I left with little time to put this into readable English on such short notice. 
> 
>  
> 
> Originally posted to the fest on 3rd December 2017  
> Merry Christmas, everyone!

“Where are we going anyway?” Merlin looked outside the window of the moving train. 

“You’ll find out soon enough.” Arthur leaned back and smirked.

“Merlin’s right.” Leon agreed. “You could at least tell us where we’re going.”

“North,” Percy observed from the other side of the corridor, which immediately earned him a playful kick in the shin from Gwaine.

“Mr. Obvious.” Gwaine rolled his eyes.

“He’s right.” Arthur nodded. “We’re going north.”

Lance laughed. “I know! We’re actually on the Hogwarts Express! Going north to stay at the castle!” 

Everybody laughed. 

“You don’t have a say in it, you’re abandoning us for Christmas anyways.” Merlin threw him a mock-glare. 

“Yup.” Lance smiled. “I’m going to see my baby for Christmas and we’ll be back with you for New Year’s.”

Ignoring the love-struck look on Lance’s face, Merlin leaned forward. “So you know where we’re going?”

“Yes. To Hogwarts, I said so.” Lance laughed again.

“Well…” Arthur looked all excited. “Probably not Hogwarts, but to a castle, I can tell you that much.”

But no matter what they said and how they asked their questions, Arthur would not reveal their destination.

It had seemed like a good idea when they decided to go away for the holidays as a group to let Arthur organize everything and not say where they were going, but the longer they were on the train, the more Merlin wanted to know where they were staying for the night. ‘A castle’ sounded nice, but a castle could be anything from a high-end resort to some ruins they’d have to camp in. Maybe it was just a little bed and breakfast that had the word castle in its name or the people who owned the place were named Castle. There were people other than TV characters by that name, right?

After a while, Merlin gave up and just enjoyed the scenery. Once in a while he threw Arthur looks. It was obvious that Arthur loved being in charge and that he had managed not to let slip the location of their holiday. He had just informed them to pack warm clothes, so everyone knew they weren’t in for a beach vacation. 

Arthur looked over and smiled. 

+++

After hours and one change of trains, they finally arrived in a small town. He pulled up the zipper of his parka, it was quite chilly after they had left the little station building. But Merlin needn’t have worried. A van pulled up and a man approached the group. 

“Mister Pendragon and company, I assume? Welcome to Scotland!”

“I’m Arthur Pendragon.” He shook hands with the man and the man greeted them all before he started loading their luggage into a van.

Merlin yawned. He had been on the phone with his mother for quite a while the night before and then wrapped presents for his friends. When he had finally closed his suitcase it had been 2 am. The train ride hadn’t been uncomfortable, but it had been a long day, all he wanted was a shower and then to curl up. After he had eaten something. His stomach growled.

“And of course, our kitchen is open until 10 pm.” The man smiled at him. “Snacks are available around the clock.” 

Blushing slightly, Merlin reached for his suitcase but before he could haul it into the van, the man had already taken care of it. 

“That’s good!” Percy nodded enthusiastically. “The food on the train wasn’t all that great.” He made a face and Gwaine nudged his side. 

“You could eat everything if you were hungry enough.”

Percy leaned down and looked Gwaine in the eye, trying to look as intimidating as he could muster. “And I start with the smallest.”

Laughing, everybody got into the van. 

As they drove, the man who had introduced himself as Paul, told them a bit about the town and the area. Merlin didn’t really listen, but enjoyed the melody of his voice. It almost felt as if they were in a different country, the way Paul spoke sounded so different. 

After a few miles, Merlin sat up straighter. The area was beautiful and even though he wasn’t a fan of hiking, he knew he would take a few walks. 

“Almost there.” Paul said and followed the narrow road that made a wide curve.

“Whoa…” Merlin knew he stared open-mouthed and by the way the others gasped and even Gwaine shut up, he knew they were just as overwhelmed as the view opened to reveal a medieval looking building that stood close to the creek. 

In silence, they passed the entrance gate and Paul stopped the van. “Welcome to Inverdarry Castle.”

Merlin nearly stumbled when he got out of the van, too busy taking in the old walls. 

“You’ve got to be kidding!” Gwaine was the first to find words. “Princess, you have got to be kidding!” He chuckled excitedly. 

Arthur grinned. “It looks just like on the internet. I already like it.”

“Arthur and the knights?” Lance chuckled. “You took that a bit literally, didn’t you?”

Leon laughed. “Hey, it’s not his fault that our footie team is called The Knights. Maybe they have a round table? Do you, Paul?”

Paul smiled politely. “I am sorry, but no, we do not have a round table. I can talk to the manager, though.” He gestured towards the entrance. “If the gentlemen would follow me, please?”

If Merlin had thought this might just be a fantasy-castle at first, a normal house with a fake medieval façade, he had to rethink as they entered. This really was a castle, redone as a hotel now. He only listened with half an ear to what the man at the front desk was telling them, he was too busy looking around. There were knight suits and other armour on display in the foyer and comfy looking old leather couches and, looking through a doorway, he saw a fire burning in the fireplace. This was too good to be true.

He knew his mouth hung open for quite a while as they climbed the stairs to be shown to their rooms. Merlin was sure he would wake up any minute, this had to be a dream! This castle was something out of a movie, this only happened in smarmy Christmas movies or in ghost stories. 

“Are there any ghosts?” He asked before he could catch himself. 

Ian, the redhead from the front desk who could not have been more a poster-boy for Scotland even if he hadn’t been wearing a dark-blue and green tartan kilt, was polite enough not to laugh. Amusement sparkled in his eyes, though, when he answered. “We do not have any reports of ghost sightings so far. So either our ghosts are very shy or we unfortunately don’t have any.”

“Too bad!” Gwaine laughed and then wiggled his eyebrows at Percy. “I could have protected you from them at night.”

Their rooms were on different floors as the castle wasn’t as big as it first appeared. It felt a bit like being on a school trip, though. Gwaine discovered a few things in his room that he felt the need to show Leon and Percy came out of his room quickly to see what the commotion was about. 

Arthur’s and Merlin’s rooms were on the top floor. Merlin grinned when he saw the explosion of flowers in his room. The wallpaper, the curtains, the bedspread. It was cosy, but a tiny bit girly. His bed was big and looked comfy and somehow they had managed to bring his luggage up without them even noticing. 

Even though there were some pitched roof areas, the room was spacey and had two little nooks that were especially charming. One had a little bench with lots of pillows, perfect to just sit and look outside and think or to read, the other one had an almost delicate looking desk to sit at and write probably? 

Setting his backpack down, Merlin shed his jacket and tossed it carelessly across the big armchair and went to the little bench. 

“Arthur? Arthur!” The view was breath-taking. Merlin looked over the creek and the mountains on the other side. 

“What? Is everything okay?” Arthur rushed into his room. 

“Look!” Merlin pointed excitedly. 

Laughing, Arthur stepped closer to the window. “I know! The view from my windows is almost the same, I’m just next door, you know? What’s your bathroom like?”

Merlin hadn’t even gotten that far in his exploration, but gasped when he opened the door. With the room being so big, he had expected a small bathroom, but this was so much bigger than his bathroom at home! It built a stark contrast to the room as it was state-of-the-art. 

Arthur just nodded when Merlin gasped. 

“Even the bathroom has a window with a view!” 

“Yup,” Arthur grinned. “You can watch the sunset while taking a shower! Too bad you don’t have a tub.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. So if you feel like taking a bath, let me know.” 

Merlin stared. Did Arthur mean that? His heart was beating a bit faster and he tried to shove the images aside that his mind produced. It was silly. Arthur didn’t see him in that way. He was just one of the guys and Arthur had just offered his tub, nothing else. 

Arthur scratched the back of his neck. “You know…for a bath.”

“Yes…for a bath.”

“I…I’ll see you at dinner.”

Arthur turned and left and to Merlin it looked like he had fled his room. 

Merlin blinked and then started to unpack his things.

+++

Percy and Gwaine barged into his room just as he was done under the pretence of picking him up for dinner. Of course they looked into every corner of the room and checked out the bathroom.

“Wow, and I thought I had a great room.” Gwaine nodded. 

“It’s almost as flowery as mine.” Percy made a face.

Merlin laughed. “Yeah, the flowers are a bit overwhelming, but we can spend time downstairs with the knight suits if it gets too much?”

“They even have a little gym downstairs and a small indoor pool!”

Leon snuck into the room, followed by Lance. “Hey, with everyone on a tour through the others’ rooms, I want to be in!”

“Come on in.” Merlin loved. “Welcome to flowery heaven!”

“Oh gosh!” Leon looked around. “I mean…it’s still within taste, but…I definitely prefer the tartan-like wallpaper in my room!”

“It matches Ian’s kilt.” Gwaine grinned widely. “As you, of course, have noticed already.”

Leon blushed. “Hey, nothing wrong with looking at a good-looking Scotsman in a kilt.”

“Not at all.” Arthur appeared. “Are we done with the tour now? I’m hungry!”

Nobody seemed to notice they hadn’t seen Arthur’s room yet as they followed him downstairs to the dining room. 

+++

Merlin blinked. There was a bit of a buffet set up at the side of the room but only one big table was set in the dining room.

“Are we late?”

Gwaine already wandered to the buffet to check the offerings. 

“We’re the only ones.” Arthur secured the seat at the head of the table. 

“What do you mean?” Leon looked at him.

Arthur looked into the drinks menu and ordered the wine for them before he turned back to them. “What I said, we’re the only ones; the castle is ours for the time being.”

“Arthur…” Merlin sank into a chair and stared and even Percy looked over from where he had filled a plate with lots of salads. “That’s…I’m sure that’s way out of our budget. No way you could have paid for this with the money we transferred.”

“No, I couldn’t.” Arthur unfolded the napkin and then put it next to his cutlery. He got up and smiled at every one of them before he said “Merry Christmas, everyone.”

“What…what do you mean?”

“You can’t!”

“That’s way too much,” Merlin whispered. 

Arthur raised his hands. “Before you all start saying that it’s too much and you can’t accept it, please, let me do this. I’ve had a good year, my company is doing well and you all played a big role in making this year so good for me…please don’t spoil it for me or yourselves, let this be my Christmas present to you.”

“Gee, that’s generous.” Gwaine murmured around a cherry tomato that he had plucked off Percy’s salad during Arthur’s little speech. 

“Thank you.” Percy still looked disbelievingly.

“Arthur, that’s…” Leon started but one look from Arthur shut him up and Lance just shook his head. 

Merlin sat there in shock. They all had given Arthur a few hundred pounds and had agreed on a limit. Merlin couldn’t even imagine what Arthur had put on top of this to be able to rent the entire castle with all the staff just for the six of them and now he played it down as if it were nothing. 

“Weren’t you hungry, Merlin?”

Looking up, Merlin didn’t know what to say. His appetite had vanished. “Arthur…”

“Please, don’t destroy this by feeling bad. There is no reason to.”

“You’re spoiling us.” 

Arthur just shrugged. “Maybe I’m just spoiling myself.” He winked and wandered over to the buffet. 

+++

They had eaten a delicious meal and conversation had picked up, but then Merlin had gone back to his room, he had opened his laptop to check some emails and probably try to work on his novel, but he just sat at the small table and stared outside into the now dark landscape of the creek. 

Back when they had decided on this trip, Arthur had just been a friend, a footie mate. Merlin knew the others only let him stay on the team because they desperately needed people. He wasn’t good at it, football just wasn’t his sport. But he liked the camaraderie and them winning or losing as a team, even though they lost a lot more often than they won, and a draw counted as a win really, Merlin knew that some of it was his fault. He was the worst left-fielder in the history of left-fielders, but they still had fun. In the past six months, Merlin’s feelings for Arthur had grown but Arthur had never shown a sign of affection past what he showed to all the others.

And now he had done this. Merlin should have noticed that something was off as they were coming here. No way could the meagre amount of money that he had given Arthur pay for a trip like this. It wasn’t that he was poor, he made a decent living at his job, could support himself and once in a while there was a little extra in it, too. But he could never afford a stay at a hotel like this and neither could the others. 

Arthur usually came over as a down-right prat and didn’t seem to like people too much, but he was loyal to his friends. This trip here was a bit more than just loyalty. He let his friends look behind the façade he had built around himself. 

A wave of something unnamed washed through Merlin and made his chest tight. The man behind the walls wasn’t only loyal, he was bright, funny, fought for what he thought was right, defended his friends, was generous and observant. Merlin didn’t understand how people couldn’t like Arthur. On top of all that, he was good-looking, had wonderfully blond hair that shone in the sunlight like gold, great blue eyes and a wicked sense of humour. What was there not to like?

The beep of his mobile pulled Merlin out of his reverie. 

A message from Arthur to everybody.

_Breakfast 8 am._

Before Merlin could react, Gwaine had already complained that 8 am on a vacation was ‘like in the middle of the night!’ and while he typed his ‘okay’, Arthur sent the next text.

_Wear your hiking boots, we’re going exploring after breakfast_

_Wasn’t this supposed to be fun?_ Lance asked and quickly sent a smiley.

Then a message from Percy came in. _Need more time for gym_

 _It’ll still be here when we come back, Perce_ Leon threw in.

Merlin chuckled. It didn’t matter if they weren’t even all in the one room, they could banter and have their little discussions and fights via text, too.

_Alright, you babies. Sleep, go to the gym, take bubble baths. I’ll be at breakfast at 8 and then going to see what the area holds for us._

Oy, Arthur sounded a bit grumpy now. Obviously he had made a plan that he didn’t want to reveal and was less than amused that not everybody immediately was thrilled.

 _I’ll be there. Hiking boots and all._ Merlin texted back. 

_Good. Night, Merlin._

_Night, Arthur_ Merlin put the mobile aside but he kept on buzzing.

 _Good night, John-Boy!_ That was Gwaine.

 _Good night, Elizabeth_ Leon.

_Good night…_

Merlin muted the device and tossed it aside. 

+++

“Good morning! Did you sleep well?” Merlin entered the dining room and hadn’t addressed anyone in particular with this, but Arthur was the only other person there.

“Actually, I slept quite well. It’s a bit of a change from the noisy city. How about you?”

They talked while Merlin loaded his plate at the breakfast buffet, sat down and reached for what looked like freshly baked rolls. “What do you have in mind for today?”

Arthur hadn’t revealed his plans so far but that they required hiking boots had to mean some physical activity. “You don’t give up, do you?” He grinned.

“Well, I’m the only one here, so I at least trust you to have a good plan.” Merlin smiled and sipped his tea.

The grin softened into a warm smile. “You are. Here I mean. So maybe I should trust you with the plan?” Arthur chuckled. “Alright. It’s just a walk around the creek to the other side. There’s a little pub or inn or whatever it is and they assured me they’d make the local special for us.”

“What’s the local special?”

Arthur laughed. “I have no idea. It might just be a beer, I don’t know.”

Merlin threw him a look. “So you’re saying I have to hike around the creek just to get a beer? I could have that here, by the fireplace, without moving an inch.”

“Did someone say beer?” The door opened and Gwaine came in, Percy in tow.

Laughing, Merlin shook his head. Leave it to Gwaine to make an entrance on cue. 

 

After they said good-bye to Lance, who was going to meet up with Gwen in Edinburgh to spend the holidays there and bring her back to the castle after Boxing Day, they started their little hike.

In the beginning, they all talked and laughed a lot but the further they got, the busier they were with admiring the view. 

When they took a break, Arthur sat down on a rock next to Merlin. “So, how do you like our little trip so far?”

Merlin’s cheeks were glowing. “It’s so beautiful out here.”

“Did you know that Scotland has quite a bit of unique fauna?” Leon came over and started to talk about deer and lots of different birds, mentioned sheep and squirrels, bats, grey seals, eagles and dolphins. 

“And yet, we haven’t seen a single one of them.” Percy got up from where he sat on another rock. 

“They are on winter break.” Gwaine brushed something off the seat of his jeans. 

Merlin laughed. “Christmas vacation?”

“Yup.” Gwaine nodded. “Haven’t you heard about the squirrels populating the deck chairs on the beaches in the Caribbean? They all come from here.”

“Fleeing from the hard Scottish winter?”

Leon shook his head and the others laughed. They continued, joking about deer in swim suits and puffins sitting at the bar, slurping cocktails on their way.

Another hour later, they finally made it to the other side of the creek and to the place Arthur had been hinting about over breakfast. They all had worked up quite the appetite and were delighted when the ‘local special’ turned out to not be just a beer, but a hearty meal with all the local specialties. 

Merlin beamed at Arthur, who had chosen the chair right next to him. 

“Like it?” Arthur asked.

Nodding enthusiastically, Merlin rubbed his belly. “This was so good. I’m so full that I don’t think I can walk back to the castle.”

“We could just give you a little shove and you can roll down the hill?” Arthur suggested. The cottage they were at wasn’t at the shore of the creek, they had been walking uphill for a bit. 

“Feels like I could roll all the way back.”

The others didn’t look too enthusiastic at the thought of walking all the way back either. 

“Alright, alright.” There was a mischievous glint in Arthur’s eyes as he held up his hands in defeat. “My friends, who are spending hours and hours in the gym,” he threw Percy a look, “and chase a little leather ball across a field at any given chance,” he looked at Gwaine, “are too lazy for another hike. I hear you. And since I know you rather well, I have good news.”

+++

“A reindeer sleigh?” Merlin laughed when they were standing outside the cottage and Arthur had presented his ‘good news’. 

“There’s no snow!” Percy observed.

Gwaine had already gone to say hello to the animals, guided by the drivers of the two sleighs that were actually open carriages. 

“That’s why they have wheels. It just looks like a sleigh, I think they can remove the side parts in summer, so they’re just normal carriages. With this wooden structure makes them look like sleighs.”

Merlin couldn’t believe it. Arthur was going out of his way with this trip. So far, everything he had organized had been amazing. 

“Gwaine, Percy and Leon take the large one, Merlin and I will be in this one.” Arthur decided.

Merlin missed Leon’s grin widening and Gwaine winking at Arthur as he slowly approached the reindeer that were supposed to pull their sleigh. “Can I pat them?”

After one of the drivers welcomed them and explained a few things about the animals, Merlin had made friends with the ones pulling their ‘sleigh’ and was now in his seat, snuggled underneath a warm blanket. It wasn’t that cold but the wind had picked up and it was nice to sit like this. Next to Arthur. Arthur hadn’t left his side since breakfast, had made sure he had everything he needed and had insisted they used the big blanket together. 

Arthur. Having him this close, their knees touching underneath the blanket, did the weirdest things to Merlin’s insides. And now he even moved a bit closer. 

“Just hear those sleigh bells jingling?” Arthur grinned at him as he quoted the famous song.

Merlin couldn’t help but grin back. “Ring-ting-tingling, too?” He laughed. “It’s not really a sleigh ride, you know?”

“Come on, Merlin, where’s your sense of adventure? Where’s your imagination? We’ve got reindeer, we’ve got a blanket…”

“All we’re missing is snow.”

“You know, it hardly ever snows here. And even I couldn’t do anything about that. Unless…” Arthur’s face crunched up in mock-thinking. “Maybe…you know they have those machines, to prepare the slopes in the skiing areas…”

Merlin laughed. “They only cover small areas, though. It would be difficult to cover the whole creek in snow.”

Sighing dramatically, Arthur shrugged. “Then there seems to be little I can do about it.”

“It’s very nice the way it is, Arthur. Thank you for all this.”

Was there a little blush on Arthur’s face? Merlin didn’t know that Arthur could blush. 

“As long as you like it…”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.”

Merlin touched his knee a bit harder against Arthur’s knee. He liked it. He liked it a lot. 

+++

When they came back, they all went to their rooms. Well, Percy might have been seen sneaking into Gwaine’s room and Leon was still standing at the front desk, chatting with Ian. 

Merlin tossed his jacket on the arm chair and himself across the bed. It had been a beautiful day and Arthur had always been by his side, which had made the time even better. Maybe he was reading too much into it, though. 

He couldn’t help it, he liked Arthur. It wasn’t helping that they spent so much time together now. What if Arthur was just friendly? What if he was just taking care of him because Gwaine had Percy and Leon seems to be getting somewhere with his Scotsman? Maybe he just felt a little lonely this close to Christmas as many people did? As Merlin himself did? 

It was the time of year to curl up with someone and enjoy all the kitschy things some called tradition. Going to Christmas markets and having mulled wine just wasn’t the same if you were alone; and seeing the happy couples around you didn’t help to lift the mood when you were lonely. 

Blowing out a breath, Merlin turned, adjusted the pillows and looked outside the window. It was slowly getting dark. 

If Arthur just was in that pre-Christmas-mood that made you realize that yet another year had passed and you hadn’t been capable of finding someone you liked and Merlin would agree to whatever Arthur was actually offering – if he was offering anything at all – it would only complicate things later. When they noticed they had nothing in common but a weird Christmas spent together just because they wanted to avoid the holiday loneliness. 

Merlin didn’t have many friends when he moved to the city. Modern technology made it easier to stay in touch with those he left behind but it didn’t mean that you could be friends on the same level than before. You just didn’t show up at the other’s house and go for a beer together, it all required planning. So he had been very happy when he literally ran into Percy in the park. Percy introduced him to his circle of friends and the rest, as they say, was history. Merlin didn’t want to mess this up with crushing on Arthur. Oh, who was he kidding? He had crushed on Arthur a while ago. And he crushed hard. Now he needed to decide if he wanted to act on it.

His mobile beeped.

_We’ll eat all the good food alone if you don’t show._

Chuckling, Merlin scrambled up. He hadn’t noticed that it was time for dinner already. He shouldn’t even be hungry after having lunch at the cottage on the other side of the creek, but his stomach told him that it wasn’t averse to more good food. And Gwaine’s threat to eat it all by himself made Merlin move a little faster when he washed his face and got changed.

+++

When Merlin woke up, he immediately noticed that something was different. Scrambling out of bed, a wide smile showed on his face when he noticed what it was. It had actually snowed during the night! This was rare here, he knew, so he decided to take advantage of it. 

After a quick shower, he pulled on his boots and jacket, grabbed his camera and left. Even though it was considerably colder than the previous day, the sun would surely melt the thin layer of white away during the day, so Merlin didn’t care about breakfast. This was something he needed to capture with his camera. 

He took the same path they had been hiking on the previous day. This was wonderful! The creek looked the same and yet so different. Merlin didn’t even notice how far he walked as he stopped all the time to take photos. When he noticed he was about halfway between the hotel and the cottage they had been to, he made a face. He hadn’t intended to go that far, unsure of what Arthur had planned for that day. Trying to check the time, Merlin noticed that in the hurry to get out and enjoy the scenery, he’d left his mobile on the nightstand. It was probably time to go back. 

When he came back to the castle, Merlin tried to stomp the snow off his boots before he entered the foyer. Unwrapping the huge scarf from around his neck, he stopped in his tracks. The employees had set up the most beautiful Christmas tree he’d ever seen. It went all the way up to the first floor, little white lights sparkled and the ornaments used followed the colour theme of the kilts and other uniforms worn by the staff, combined with golden and transparent ornaments. The whole tree seemed to glow and Merlin just stood there and admired it.

“There you are!” Leon came rushing from the common room. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you all over!”

Merlin blinked. “Just went for a little walk.”

Gwaine jumped down the stairs and then yelled up. “Arthur! Arthur, he’s here!”

“What…?” Merlin sniffed as his nose was running. This always happened when he came back from the cold. 

Before he could say more, Arthur had run down the stairs and flung his arms around his neck and hugged him real tight. “You’re back!”

“Yes, I am.” Merlin was confused. He hadn’t been on an expedition to the North Pole, he had just been for a little walk.

“We’ve been looking for you all over, where have you been?”

Merlin tried to pull back a little when Percy showed up, too, but Arthur held on to him a while longer. They all acted weirdly. “For a walk.” 

“I thought we’d lost you.”

Throwing Arthur a little strange look, Merlin finally stepped back. “Lost? You think the storm witches blew me into the sea? Some selkies dragged me away? Or I’ve met a unicorn?”

There was a strange look in Arthur’s eyes.

“Only virgins can meet unicorns.” Gwaine commented drily. “Oh, wait…” He grinned. 

Percy chuckled while Leon cleared his throat. “Alright. You’re back. That’s good.”

Arthur still looked at Merlin. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?” It didn’t sound reproachful, just a little sad.

“I only noticed that I’d left it in my room when I was furthest out. Listen, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have left without telling anyone. I just wanted to take some photos while the snow was still there.” 

Arthur nodded. “You’re back, that’s all that counts.”

“Did I miss anything?” Merlin looked from one to the other.

“Only us having to tear the castle up to find you. The princess was really worried.” Gwaine grinned, snatched an apple from the bowl on the front desk and took a hearty bite. 

Merlin threw Arthur a sideways look and noticed a little blush again. Could it be? 

“Well, I’m back now.”

“Good.” Arthur nodded. “We’re going to the Christmas market in town once it gets dark.” He announced. “Will you join us?”

Merlin beamed widely. He hadn’t meant to scare anyone with his wandering, especially not Arthur. And it was kind of nice that Arthur, who had just decided what they all would do since they came here, asked him specifically if he would come along. “Wouldn’t want to miss that!”

“Alright!” Gwaine clapped once. “Now we’ve got that sorted, we can finally have the TTT in the gym!” He jumped down the stairs. 

“TTT?” Merlin wondered what he’d missed.

“Table Tennis Tournament.” Percy rolled his eyes and motioned towards Gwaine with his head, indicating that the oh-so-great abbreviation had been his idea and that nobody else really found it that great. “Come on, join us! The more the merrier!” 

“Let me…just let me take off my boots, I’ll be right there.” He threw Arthur a smile and climbed the stairs. Merlin would much rather have looked at his photos on the big screen of his laptop, sorted and adjusted them and maybe posted one or the other on his Facebook or Instagram, but he didn’t want to let the others down again. So he changed his thick boots for his trainers, shed the thick sweater and made his way to the gym, already hearing the others yell and laugh as he rounded the last corner.

+++

The table tennis tournament had been fun. Merlin wasn’t really good at it and had no chance of winning, but it was a group activity he really enjoyed. They laughed a lot, especially when Leon accidentally smashed the little ball right between Gwaine’s eyes. Gwaine, who loved situations like these, had pretended to be all injured and dramatically sunk into Percy’s arms. Percy couldn’t decide if he should laugh or roll his eyes, played along, the concerned boyfriend all the way, yelled for ice and an ambulance…or probably a hunter to put Gwaine out of his misery. 

When Merlin had lost all the matches he was supposed to play, he just sat on the back of the couch, watched, commented and had a good time. The finale was played between Percy and Arthur and Merlin couldn’t help rooting for Arthur, who didn’t stand a chance against Percy who had a much wider range due to his height. 

When they finished, Arthur slumped onto the couch. 

Merlin handed him a bottle of water and their fingers touched when Arthur reached for it. 

“I hate losing.”

Chuckling, Merlin nodded. “I know.” He had seen it too many times on the football field. Arthur was competitive, if it really counted or not didn’t matter, he had the absolute will to win. “But sometimes it’s just not meant to be.” 

Arthur threw him a look. “That doesn’t lift my mood.”

“I’ll buy you a mulled wine or something local at the Christmas market thing we’re going to. Would that lift your mood?”

The crooked smile he got was answer enough. 

+++

Later they all went to their rooms to get their thick boots and warm winter coats and what else they needed and let Paul drive them to the next town that was surprisingly larger than they had anticipated. 

Merlin wrapped his scarf around his neck when they went looking at the things the merchants in their little huts had to offer. He had gotten a huge burst of Christmas mood when he’d seen the huge tree at the castle, this just topped it off nicely. There were glass baubles, nutcrackers, incense smokers and other decorations, lots of candy that smelled wonderfully, stands that offered food and some that had gloves and socks for sale. There was Christmas music playing and Merlin sighed.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” Arthur had stepped up to him when he was looking at some rather kitschy tree decorations that said ‘Scotland’ pondering if he should get his mam a souvenir. 

He couldn’t help but smile widely. “Oh yes, I’m really having fun. Still sorry about this morning, but this is…thank you, Arthur. You’ve outdone yourself.”

Arthur moved a bit closer. “How about you’ll get me that mulled wine you’ve promised me?”

“Let’s all go skating! They have an ice rink over there!” Gwaine barged in and Merlin could barely hold the groan back. It had been such a nice moment with Arthur and of course Gwaine had to ruin it.

“We were just about to get some mulled wine.” He explained. “Or would you rather go skating, Arthur?”

Arthur, who was usually into every sport activity that was offered, shook his head. “Nah, I was really looking forward to that mulled wine.”

Gwaine grabbed Percy’s hand and dragged Leon along by the sleeve of his coat. “Alright, we’re leaving the love birds alone.”

Leon was laughing and Percy turned and winked at Merlin, which made him blush. 

“So,” he cleared his throat. “Mulled wine?”

For once, Arthur didn’t complain when Merlin paid for the two mugs and got some small chocolate-covered cream cakes for them at the hut next to the mulled-wine-one. They stood at a small high table, their fingers wrapped around the mugs, blowing into the steamy liquid. 

“You’re quiet.” Arthur observed.

Merlin huffed out a chuckle. “Yeah.”

“That’s not normal. Is something wrong?”

Sipping at his mulled wine, almost burning his lower lip, Merlin shook his head. “No. I’m just trying to…kind of absorb all this.”

“Absorb?” Arthur’s eyebrow went up.

“Yes. It’s so nice here and I want to catalogue the smells and sounds so I’ll always be reminded of this moment when I hear and smell them again.” Merlin put his mug down and bowed his head. This sounded stupid. Or at least overly sentimental. 

To his surprise, Arthur didn’t laugh. “I know what you mean. Here, have one of the cake thingies. It’ll add to the memories.” He held out the bag to Merlin. 

Fishing one out, Merlin licked at the chocolate cover before he took a bite. “Wow…sweet.” He made a face. It was foamy sugar inside but somehow this added to the taste of the mulled wine. 

“Like you.”

“What?” His head shot up.

Arthur cleared his throat and looked at him. “You’ve got some of the…on your upper lip.” 

Merlin’s tongue darted out, trying to chase the spot that Arthur indicated. “Did I get it?”

“Not all of it.”

Before he could try to lick it off again, Arthur had reached out and gently wiped at the spot with his thumb. “That’s better.”

When Arthur put his thumb to his mouth to lick the sticky cream off, all Merlin could do was stare. Involuntarily, he moved closer. 

“Damn, Merlin…”

“What?” He whispered. Had he done something wrong?

Arthur closed his eyes and swallowed hard before he opened them again. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips to Merlin’s. 

Merlin’s eyes slid shut and the world around him disappeared. He didn’t care that his feet started getting cold or that his beanie let enough of the cold air through to sting his ears. All that counted was Arthur’s mouth on his. He tasted of sugar and the dark, red wine, of spices and of…Arthur. He wrapped his arms around Arthur’s waist and couldn’t let go. 

When they pulled back for air, Merlin worried his lower lip with his teeth. 

“Not good?” Arthur asked, a concerned look in his eyes.

“Wonderful.”

“Then why the thoughtful face?”

“Arthur…”

Arthur let go of him, his face fell and he took a step back. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…I thought you…”

Shaking his head, Merlin reached for Arthur’s hand. “You weren’t. Wrong, that is. I…I love this.” Merlin smiled carefully. 

“So you wouldn’t mind if I kissed you again?” Arthur’s eyes started shining. 

“Not at all.”

+++

They had kissed a bit more and Arthur wrapped his arm around him as they finished their mulled wines and wandered down another row of little huts, looking at the wares until they finally reached the ice rink.

It was easy to make out Gwaine as he was really showing off, zooming around the rink very elegantly, every once in a while stopping at where Percy slowly made his way forward. Leon was at the other side of the rink, laughing at something a guy with really red hair said. 

“Looks like Ian has the night off.” Merlin smiled widely. He didn’t care if this was just for the time being, he was happy. 

“Why should I be the only lucky bloke today?” Arthur pressed a kiss on his cheek and immediately Merlin turned his head to capture Arthur’s lips. 

If they had seen Gwaine notice and stumble on the ice, they sure would have laughed. Of course, Gwaine came over right away, followed by Percy.

“Finally!”

Merlin blushed. “What?”

“It’s been unbearable watching you two dancing around each other. If you hadn’t figured it out by yourselves, I would have followed you, holding some mistletoe over your heads all day long from tomorrow morning on!”

Merlin chuckled, but Percy nodded. “He would have, trust me. He already has the mistletoe.”

Snuggling a bit closer against Arthur, Merlin smiled. “No need for that now.”

“Oh, I’ll find other uses for it.” Gwaine grinned. “I’m happy for you guys, but won’t you join us?”

Arthur shook his head. “Nope. Judging by the way Merlin plays football, he’ll only hurt himself on the ice.”

“Hey!” Merlin nudged his side. “Have you ever seen me skate? Maybe I’m a master at it!”

“Are you?”

Merlin’s shoulders slumped. “No.”

They all laughed before Gwaine skated away again. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do! Come on, Percy, we need to tell Leon!”

“That leaves us quite a bit of leeway, doesn’t it?” Arthur grinned.

“Yup, it does.”

+++

When they came back, Merlin stood in front of the Christmas tree in the hall and rubbed his hands together, waiting for Arthur who got the keys from the front desk. 

“Are you cold? Give me your hands.” Arthur smiled as he reached over, wrapping his hands around Merlin’s.

“How can you have such warm hands after all this time outside?” 

Arthur wiggled his eyebrows. “That’s my hot blood!”

Laughing, Merlin let Arthur rub his hands and enjoyed how they got warmer. 

As they climbed the stairs a while later, Merlin didn’t know what to do. He wanted to be with Arthur and not be separated a single second, but they only got together a few hours before, he couldn’t sleep with him now, could he? 

“Errr…you know…” Arthur started when they reached their floor.

“Yes?”

“On the way back, you said you’ve got cold feet and I have a tub in my bathroom…so…if you want to take a bath, you’re more than welcome.”

Merlin blinked. He was a bit unsure if this was what he thought it was. “Are you…?”

“No! Nono, that’s not what…damn, now I put my foot into my mouth, haven’t I?” Arthur laughed nervously and then cleared his throat. “As much as I’d like to…to…spend the night with you, a bath is all I’m offering at the moment. I know how cold you can get and I don’t want you to get sick. To…” He threw Merlin a crooked grin. “If you get sick, we can’t do…the things I would like to do with you.”

Laughing, Merlin leaned in and stole a kiss. “I don’t do that on a first date.”

“Taking baths?” 

The both chuckled and Merlin liked that Arthur was standing real close. “No, you know…”

“Hey, don’t worry, I actually like that. I never figured you for a bloke who slept around. So, the offer is still up. If you want to take a bath to warm up, just come on over. I promise I’ll behave.” Arthur winked.

Merlin nodded. His feet were really cold and the thought of taking a bath instead of a shower was tempting. “Alright.”

“Alright?” 

“Let me grab a few things first.”

“Sure.” Arthur leaned in and kissed Merlin thoroughly.

“What was that for?”

“To tide me over until I see you again.”

Merlin laughed and untangled himself to open his door. “It’ll only be a few minutes.”

“Too long.” Arthur nodded firmly.

“Sap!”

+++

Merlin still grinned when he made his way over to Arthur’s door. He had just taken his boots and coat off and grabbed a few towels and underwear. He was just going to take a bath, thank Arthur with one of those toe-curling kisses they had exchanged and would go back to his own room all warm and cosy later and dream wonderful dreams of his future with Arthur. 

Arthur opened the door and Merlin blushed at the look he saw on Arthur’s face.

“What?”

“What what? Can’t I admire my boyfriend?”

Merlin’s heart was beating faster. His boyfriend. He was Arthur’s boyfriend. Merlin worried his lower lip with his teeth as he smiled.

“What?” Arthur’s face fell a bit. “Not okay?”

“Very much okay. I just have to get used to it.” Merlin put a quick peck on Arthur’s lips and entered the room. “You’ve promised me a bath.”

Arthur gestured towards the bathroom and Merlin gaped. If his room was luxurious, what was this? The bathroom was huge and the tub stood along the window, so you could look out while you were bathing. The water was already running and someone had lit lots of candles. 

“Arthur!”

“What? Don’t you like the bathing stuff? There were several on this ledge here and I thought you might like the citrus-y one, but if you’d rather go for lavender or sandalwood…”

“This is marvellous.” Merlin grinned. “Never thought you were such a romantic!”

Arthur pulled him close. “Promise me to not tell anyone. I have a reputation to keep.” He grinned back.

Rewarding Arthur with a kiss, Merlin finally pulled back. “My feet are still cold.”

“Then I’ll leave you to it.” Another quick kiss and Arthur closed the bathroom door from the outside.

Merlin was confused. This was such a nice gesture and Arthur was just great. Quickly, he shed his clothes and sank into the water that had just the right temperature. Sighing, Merlin leaned back and closed his eyes. What was he about to do? He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist Arthur if he just made the slightest move. Not that he wanted to. 

“Everything alright in there? Do you need anything?”

Yes, there was one thing he needed, no matter what they had said in the corridor. “Actually…yes. You.”

With beating heart, Merlin watched the door opening slowly and Arthur peeking his head in. “Sure?”

“Yes, very sure.” Merlin had said that on a whim of…he didn’t know what, he just knew he wanted Arthur right now. Screw the not-fucking-on-a-first-date-rule. He had wanted him for such a long time, why postpone it any longer?

Arthur was in the room in no time, already pulling his sweatshirt over his head. 

“Not so fast!”

With a confused look on his face, Arthur dropped the sweatshirt. “What? I thought…”

“I just want to enjoy the show.” Merlin grinned.

“It’s nothing that you haven’t seen before. We were in the showers at the club house so often…and don’t tell me you didn’t peek because I sure did.” 

“Of course I did.” His grin widened. “But as I said, I want to enjoy the show.”

Arthur laughed. “Alright.” 

He started a little strip tease, overacting whenever possible and they both laughed hard when one of his socks didn’t cooperate and Arthur nearly fell over in an attempt to pull it off his foot. 

Then he stood there, gloriously naked and Merlin just looked. Of course he had peeked at Arthur in the shower after footie training, but that he stood there for him to look gave the whole scene a twist. 

Arthur grinned. “Was that what you wanted? Can I go now?”

A certain part of his anatomy showed that he had no intention to leave, though. 

Merlin chuckled and then gestured for Arthur to come closer. “I think I’m not done yet.”

Moving closer, Arthur swayed his hips and once again that made both of them laugh.

“Get in here already.” Merlin got impatient. He couldn’t just look, he needed to touch, too.

“So impatient.” Arthur grinned and climbed into the hot water. “What do you want to do now?”

Merlin hadn’t thought about that, but he leaned forward so he could kiss Arthur properly. He loved how Arthur basically melted into his chest and he could feel all of him against his front. A little moan escaped him when Arthur rubbed against him. This was so different. Merlin had never done anything remotely like this in a bath tub and the sensations were different due to the water around them. 

His hands slid down Arthur’s slippery back and when Arthur started to kiss down his neck and found that sensitive little spot underneath his ear, Merlin threw his head back, moaned and grabbed Arthur’s buttocks. The buttocks that had haunted Merlin’s dreams for months. It was so unbelievable that he was really touching them now. 

“Arthur…” Merlin breathed. 

Lifting his head, Arthur looked at him. “Yes?”

“Can I…I’d like to…” He squeezed Arthur’s arse.

Arthur looked at him in wonder, before a huge smile spread across his face. “Hell, yes!”

“Are you sure?” 

“Just surprised.” Arthur leaned in for a quick peck on Merlin’s lips. “Never figured you for a top, but yes!” He scrambled around to the other side of the tub to retrieve condoms and some lube from a little bowl that was hidden between the bath salts, thereby giving Merlin a good view of his behind. 

Merlin groaned and scrambled around until he was on his knees. “Don’t move!” 

Arthur stopped in mid-movement and turned his head. 

Merlin couldn’t help himself; he needed to touch this arse. Slowly, he caressed the wet buttocks with his hands before he moved on to kissing and nibbling. Arthur had a fantastic arse, made for, waiting to be touched. Merlin used his teeth just enough to draw a reaction from Arthur, but not hard enough to leave marks. 

When Arthur grabbed the sides of the tub and started panting, Merlin almost laughed. He had never thought he could make Arthur feel this way, all hard, waiting just for him, but there they were and it was even better than in his dreams. Slowly, he licked a bit closer to the ring of muscles. It tasted wet and soapy and of Arthur.

“Merlin!”

Stopping, Merlin pulled back a bit. But he had obviously interpreted this the wrong way because Arthur moved back, against him. 

“Don’t stop!”

Moving a bit deeper, Merlin licked at Arthur’s balls and then went back to where he had left off with a broad swipe of his tongue. 

Arthur responded in the best ways possible, the sounds he was making turning Merlin on so much that his hard-on almost hurt. He wouldn’t stop what he was doing, though, so he kept on licking and kissing, feeling Arthur relaxing underneath him and being tense and close to coming at the same time. 

When he probed his tongue inside a little bit, Arthur yelled out. “Yeah…oh yeah! Just like that! Give me that tongue!”

Merlin had never thought that Arthur was so talkative, he had figured him more for the quiet type that enjoyed and sighed at the end, but he was obviously wrong. “Patience,” he whispered and almost chuckled when this sent shivers through Arthur. He continued licking and trying to open Arthur up with his tongue. 

Soon, this wasn’t enough anymore. He knew Arthur was close already. Merlin knew it wouldn’t take much for himself to come and he wanted to be inside Arthur when he did, so he reached for the lube and added fingers to the already rather relaxed arse in front of him. 

“Merlin!” Arthur yelled out when Merlin had three fingers inside him and had found his spot. 

Grinning, when he saw Arthur’s head hang between his arms and hearing him pant really hard, Merlin crooked his fingers again and reached for Arthur’s cock that stood out so hard that he couldn’t ignore it any longer. 

It didn’t take Arthur long to alternately buck onto Merlin’s fingers and into his fist before he came, yelling Merlin’s name.

Quickly, Merlin pulled his fingers out and reached for a condom. With trembling fingers, he rolled it on and slickened it with lube, grabbed Arthur’s hips and slowly slid in. Throwing back his head, Merlin just enjoyed the feeling of heat and tightness for a moment. When Arthur started moving underneath him, babbling filthy things and moaning, Merlin pulled back and shoved back in. Soon, he found a rhythm and pounded into Arthur. It didn’t take long for him to come, only a few strokes and he filled the condom as Arthur tightened around him and screamed his name. 

Carefully, Merlin pulled out and discarded the condom. Then he sunk back into the water, pulling Arthur with him, caressing his chest with the tips of his fingers as they both tried to catch their breath. 

“Wow,” Arthur whispered a while later.

Chuckling against Arthur’s neck, Merlin licked Arthur’s earlobe. “What? Didn’t expect me to know how to do anything like that?”

“Sure didn’t expect you to be such an expert.” 

Merlin felt Arthur’s chuckle more than he heard it. “We left quite the mess.” He looked around. The water had sloshed over the sides of the tub and the floor of the bathroom had quite some puddles. There were even drops on the window. 

“Then let’s move over to the bedroom, so we don’t have to see the mess.” Arthur didn’t move, though.

“Arthur?”

“Give me a minute.”

+++

 

They had skipped breakfast and lunch and Merlin was jumping down the stairs. Arthur had gotten an emergency call from his company and needed to make a few phone calls.

Merlin grabbed a book and got comfy in the corner of one of the big old leather couches by the fireplace. It was still too early to go to the Christmas market again and he didn’t feel like sitting there, watching Arthur on the phone. Not that he couldn’t have watched Arthur for hours, but he might have gotten ideas to distract Arthur and that might not have been a good thing for the company. 

He chose the spot so he could see the Christmas tree that somehow seemed to be sparkling now, too. Had they added some silver spray, some extra tinsel or something? There were garlands everywhere, a nativity scene, nutcrackers and candles, lots of candles. It looked great and gave Merlin warm fuzzy feelings. 

He kicked his shoes off and scrambled a bit more into the corner of the couch, adjusting the pillow in his back and opened his book. Of course he couldn’t concentrate on reading. Once in a while, he threw Leon a look, who had found a seat at the bar and chatted with Ian, who was polishing glasses, probably more because he needed an excuse to chat than out of need for polishing.

Merlin wasn’t sure if Leon had even noticed him there, the way he was focussed on the redhead with the charming accent. Not that Merlin could make out what they were saying, he wasn’t interested in it anyway, but it was unmistakeable that Leon had taken an interest in the man and the bloke didn’t seem to be averse to a little flirting either. 

Sighing and with a little smile on his face, he leaned back and closed his eyes. He had been so confused in the past days and that had been rather exhausting. Now, he was just happy. So much had changed in the past twenty-four hours. His feelings hadn’t been one-sided and he had the most fantastic night in ages. 

“Hi, Merlin!” Percy wandered into the room.

“Hey.” Merlin smiled widely.

“What are you reading?”

Merlin held the book up.

“Impressive.” Percy grinned.

Merlin shrugged. “Not so much. It’s just a detective story, and not a really thrilling one either.”

“I mean that you can read it upside-down is impressive.” Percy laughed.

“Oh.” Only now Merlin noticed that he held the book the wrong way. 

“Someone’s a bit distracted these days…” Percy smirked. 

Merlin shook his head and laughed. “Just tired.”

Percy sat down on the coffee table. “Bet you are.”

“What?” Merlin tried to give Percy the innocent look, but failed miserably, a blush creeping onto his cheeks.

“Oh, don’t give me that look!” Percy nudged his knee. “I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks.”

“Just next time, keep it down. Damn, I don’t know what you did to him, but Arthur for sure is a yeller.”

The blush on Merlin’s cheeks burned brighter. “Not my fault.”

Laughing out loud, Percy shook his head. “Oh, of course not. It’s not your fault that he yelled your name through the whole castle.”

Merlin let go of his book and rubbed his hands over his face. “Sorry, man. I didn’t know.” He looked at his friend. “And to be honest, I didn’t mind. It is nice that I haven’t forgotten how it works.”

“We heard that.” Percy chuckled. “Hey, I’m just teasing, you know that, right? I’m really glad that you are happy. Even though sometimes one can get the impression that you might kill each other any second, you are good for each other.”

“Thanks.” Merlin smiled. He should have known that they had made a spectacle of themselves last night, but somehow he didn’t care. 

“Have you seen my reading glasses?”

The topic was obviously through for Percy. 

“I don’t know, where have you used them last?”

When Percy spotted his glasses on a little table behind Merlin’s head, he just leaned over him to retrieve them and pressed a kiss on Merlin’s temple.

Merlin chuckled and tried to push him away. “Hey! Get off of me!”

Percy blocked his view, though, or else he might have noticed Arthur standing in the doorway, glaring daggers at Percy’s back, turning on his heel and leaving again.

+++

It was time to leave for the Christmas market where they all wanted to have a last glass of mulled wine. They were assembled by the big Christmas tree in the hall and Merlin once again admired the carefully chosen ornaments.

“Where’s the princess?” Gwaine shrugged into his coat.

“I haven’t seen him all day.” Leon adjusted the collar of his jacket.

“That’s because you were busy ogling other things.” Merlin grinned. “Arthur needed to make some phone calls. Maybe he’s not done yet? It was very important when they called. I’m going to get him.”

As Merlin started to climb the stairs, Gwaine murmured “You already got him.” and then said “Wait!” He checked his mobile and then blew out a breath. “He’ll come later, he has these phone calls to finish. Come on, Merlin, first mulled wine is on me to keep you warm until lover boy shows up.”

Merlin frowned. In the car on the way to town, he checked his mobile over and over again. Why had Arthur sent the message to Gwaine, not him? Was everything alright? He sent a few texts, but didn’t get an answer. 

He clung to his mug like a drowning man when Gwaine forced the mulled wine on him. What had gone wrong? Why was Arthur like this? What had he done? Had he been wrong and it was just a one-night stand for Arthur? What about all those whispered endearments? Had they all been just lies? Merlin felt sick.

He didn’t participate in the conversation and when the others dragged him along to look at the things the merchants offered, all the glittery ornaments had lost their shine for Merlin. 

When Gwaine yet again decided it was time for some ice-skating, Merlin shook his head. 

“I’m going back. I’m not feeling well.”

Percy looked at him. “Are you sure? He’ll be busy with his conference calls, you know how he can get. You could as well have some fun here.”

“No,” Merlin shook his head. He couldn’t have fun until he found out what was wrong. “It’s okay, I’m going back. I don’t want to spoil this evening for you.”

Slowly, Percy nodded. “Call if you need me, okay?”

Merlin shoved his hands deeper into the pockets of his coat and nodded. 

Unseeingly, he wandered down the row of little huts. The sounds of Christmas carols playing over the speaker system annoyed him and the smell of roasted almonds - that he had inhaled deeply just the night before - made him want to throw up. 

If only he could remember when he had said something that made Arthur want to text Gwaine, not him. And why did it hurt so bad?

Just as he decided to walk back to the castle, his mobile buzzed. 

_Can we talk?_

Merlin’s heart sank when he saw the text from Arthur. Talk? That was never a good sign. 

_Sure_ If Arthur had to break his heart the day before Christmas, so be it. 

_Stay where you are._

Merlin blinked and looked up. He turned around and Arthur was standing in front of him, not looking his best.

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

This was awkward. 

“Listen, Merlin,” Arthur started but then they had to move out of the way as a family with two kids and a little one in a stroller wanted to pass.

“Listen, Merlin,” Arthur repeated. “I’m not in this for fun. As I’ve told you, I wanted this for a long time. I just can’t let you play me. So just tell me the facts.”

Merlin blinked. “Play…you…” He echoed slowly.

“Yes, play me. I can’t have that.” Arthur’s face was a mask of stone. 

“I never…What makes you even think that?” Merlin frowned. He had no idea what Arthur was talking about. 

Arthur just looked at him for a while. “Does this afternoon in the sitting room ring a bell?”

“This afternoon…” Merlin still didn’t know what Arthur was hinting at. He had been sitting there, trying to read…or rather not read, admired the Christmas tree and then Percy had come in, searching for his reading glasses. 

“Oh, come on, Merlin, don’t play dumb. Just tell me that you and Percy have a thing going and I’ll retreat. Just be honest with me!”

Merlin blinked again. “Percy and me?” 

“Yes, Percy and you. I’ve seen you, there is no use in denying!” Arthur crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

“What have you seen? I was sitting there, trying to read, he came in, we talked, he was looking for his reading glasses. They were there, he took them and that was it.” Merlin was baffled. 

“You were making out on that couch!”

“WHAT? I didn’t do anything like that! You should know that! If I wanted to be with Percy, I would have tried when I first met him, before he was attached at the hip to Gwaine. We are friends. His glasses were on that little table thingy behind the couch, he leaned over me, yes, he pressed a smooch on my temple, but that was it. I was trying to fight him off, he’s quite heavy, you know!”

Arthur blinked. “It looked like…”

“I don’t know what it looked like, Arthur and I don’t really care.” All the fight left Merlin. He felt hollow. If Arthur thought he would do such a thing… “If you don’t trust me at all…we probably should not…”

They just stood there and none of them moved. Merlin felt sick. How could Arthur assume that he would be making out with Percy when they had just gotten together? After that wonderful night? 

“Merlin,…” Arthur let his arms sink and his voice had turned soft. “I’m sorry. I thought…and I didn’t like it at all. I couldn’t figure out why you would do such a thing.”

“I didn’t!”

“You didn’t…can you…I’m an idiot.”

Arthur stood there, looking so lost, that Merlin almost chuckled. “Isn’t that what you usually call me?” He had heard the words so often on the footie field when he once again had proven that he wasn’t born to be a football star. 

“Now I know what it feels like.” He threw Merlin a look. “I’m really dumb, I was so jealous.” 

Merlin looked up. If Arthur was jealous, he must mean it and have some emotions for him, right? “You can’t say it, can you?”

“What?”

“That you are sorry.”

Arthur looked at him. “You want me to…”

“It’s called apologizing.” Merlin couldn’t help but smile. “Do it and then you can buy me another mulled wine, so I can forget about this awful afternoon.”

“’m sorry,” Arthur mumbled, shoulders hanging.

“Alright, now the mulled wine.”

Arthur threw him a sideways look. “You forgive me so easily?”

“Who said I forgave you yet? You have a lot of making up to do.” Merlin could breathe so much easier now. It had been a misunderstanding. Arthur had thought he had seen something that hadn’t happened and jumped to conclusions. Merlin was still a bit miffed that Arthur thought he would do such a thing, but he felt better that they had talked and clarified everything. That Arthur had, even grudgingly, apologized was a good start. 

+++

Merlin knew he was a bit more than tipsy. After a night of talking and making up, Arthur had surprised them all with a visit to a local distillery. Of course with a copious whiskey tasting after the tour through the premises, as a first Christmas present. 

The tour had been very interesting, even though Gwaine nagged all the time by asking when they would get to the good stuff. Merlin had asked a few questions about the process and Leon was interested in the procedures of storing and the wood used for the barrels, so the tour had taken a bit longer than the two hours that had been scheduled. Their guide had been delighted to have active participants on his tour, not only sheep that followed him and nodded at everything he said, so he had told them stories and anecdotes before he had let them enter the cosy little tasting room where it was much warmer than in the distillery itself. 

Merlin’s cheeks were glowing and he giggled at the most stupid jokes. 

“Which one did you like best, Merlin?” 

Arthur didn’t let go of his hand and Merlin smiled widely as he looked into his blue eyes. “The blond one.”

“This one?” Their tour guide offered a bottle with a very light-coloured whiskey and refilled Merlin’s glass. “Good choice, my friend.”

While all the others laughed, Merlin grabbed the glass and chucked the golden liquid down. He didn’t care what this stuff was, he was with Arthur and that was all that counted. 

“I think I’ve got enough.” Leon slurred next to him. “I need to hold back anyways, I got plans for tonight.” He announced.

Immediately, the teasing set in about how Leon’s plans involved a certain redhead in a kilt named Ian and even though Leon blushed fiercely, he laughed. “You’re all just jealous!”

Laughing and bantering, they packed their stuff, thanked their guide and left.

+++

When they came back, they had curled up on Arthur’s bed and Merlin had fallen asleep pretty quickly. Maybe he’d had a tad too many sips of whiskey. 

Later, they all assembled in the sitting room, everyone bringing the presents they got for the others and after a toast, they exchanged gifts. 

For Merlin, it wasn’t the moment of getting things. Getting presents was nice, but nothing beat watching someone you gave a gift to. No matter how old they were, they all had the same shine in their eyes when they got to remove the wrapping paper. Merlin loved it, so he watched his friends opening his presents for them and wasn’t disappointed. It looked like once again, he had found the right things, DVDs, books, tickets, that they liked. 

When he started unwrapping the things he received, everyone laughed when he unpacked “Footie for Dummies”. He swatted at Gwaine with the book – who else could have given him this? – but loved it. They all knew him too well. He also got a softly lined beanie, an old TV show as DVD box set that he had been looking for for ages and other things he loved. 

Leaning back against Arthur in what was now officially their corner of the leather couch, Merlin smiled. He felt so spoilt. All the gifts were wonderful. What was even better was being here with his closest friends and that one of them had turned into his boyfriend. Had it really been just a few days between being all stupidly insecure and now stupidly in love? It felt as if he couldn’t keep the goofy grin off his face.

He would never forget them wandering around the Christmas Market, tasting the local specialties and admiring the crafted things offered. Merlin had been especially fascinated by the glass blowing artist, who made wonderful baubles that somehow had the initials of the people who bought them inside. He could have watched for hours. If he wasn’t mistaken, that had been the moment they had even made plans for their own Christmas tree next year. Which of course was a bit premature, they hadn’t been together for more than a day but it was still fun imagining that they would decorate a tree together next December. 

“So, Merlin.” Gwaine, who was in Percy’s lap in the big armchair, looked over.

“So, Gwaine.” Merlin grinned. “How was ice skating last night?”

Gwaine threw him a look. “You know how ice skating was, you’ve been watching us until the rink closed. Oh, wait, no, you didn’t. You were busy with other things, weren’t you?” He grinned widely.

Chuckling, Merlin nodded. “Yes, I was.”

“So…how was it?” Gwaine totally ignored that Percy rolled his eyes and that Ian, who had joined their little cosy celebration and obviously enjoyed that Leon had pulled him close on one of the other leather couches, blinked.

“Better than ice skating, that’s for sure.”

Gwaine laughed. “Figured. Glad you’re happy, my friend.”

Merlin smiled. “Me too.” He threw Arthur a look over his shoulder and laced his fingers with Arthur’s.

They had more hot cider and hot chocolate and just as Merlin thought, the day couldn’t get any better, Arthur nuzzled into his neck. 

“I need to show you something.” He whispered.

Chuckling, Merlin turned and threw him a look. “Are you sure there is anything I haven’t seen so far.” He let his eyes wander down Arthur’s body. 

“Not that.” Arthur rolled his eyes. “Come on.” He started to get up.

Merlin scrambled up and shrugged when Percy threw him a look before he followed Arthur. To his surprise, Arthur stopped by the huge Christmas tree in the entrance hall. 

“Arthur, not another present! You gave me so much already. This trip, the gloves…”

“Your fingers are icy, you needed those. And this is…it’s not a present, it’s…” Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. “Let’s call it the start of a collection?”

Merlin blinked. What did Arthur want to collect? “Collection?” He echoed.

Arthur slipped his arm around Merlin’s waist and pointed to the tree.

There it was, a wonderful big glass ornament, just like the ones Merlin had been so enthusiastic about at the Christmas market. Even though transparent, the bauble had a golden shine on top and on the inside, it held their initials. M&A. 

Swallowing hard, Merlin didn’t know what to say. How had Arthur managed to have this made while he was standing there for hours, watching the process? And how had he been able to pick it up? They had spent the whole evening and the night together. The ornament hadn’t been there when they came to exchange presents. It was too prominent, he would have noticed. “Arthur…”

Arthur pulled him close. “I thought we could put it in our tree next year. And then find a new one every year and…” 

He didn’t get further because Merlin pulled him close and kissed him deeply. “Love you, too.”


End file.
